Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Lent

Week

Week 4 of Lent

Rank

Major feast

This day falls in Lent, a liturgical season of prayer, fasting, and conversion in preparation for Easter. Lent is a quieter, more reflective time in the Church year when families focus on growing closer to God through repentance, charity, and deeper prayer. The celebration is ranked as a Greater Double — in plain terms, that means it is a significant feast with its own proper prayers and readings, observed with more solemnity than ordinary weekdays of Lent but without suppressing the season’s penitential character. There is no octave or vigil noted here, so the celebration is kept on the single calendar day rather than extended.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Isa 55:1
All you who thirst, come to the waters, says the Lord: and you who have no money, come and drink with joy.
Ps 77:1
Hearken, My people, to My teaching; incline your ears to the words of My mouth.
Glory Be to the Father…

Commemoration St. Benedict
May the pleading of the blessed Abbot Benedicti for us, together with the partaking of Your sacrament, protect us, O Lord, so that we, mindful of his way of life, may obtain the help of his intercession.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Prayer for the Home

Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this home,
and drive far from it all snares of the enemy.

Let Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace;
and may Thy blessing be always upon us.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Weekly Formation

Beatitude 4

The Beatitudes

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for justice; for they shall be satisfied.
To hunger and thirst for justice is to desire holiness and every virtue with the urgency of bodily hunger and thirst. The promise of being filled means that God satisfies this sincere desire through grace now and perfect righteousness in heaven.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Benedict

St. Benedict, Abbot

founder of Christian monasticism, founder of the Benedictine order

Born: 0480-03-03 · Norcia
Died: 0547-03-23 · Abbey of Monte Cassino

Benedict of Nursia, often known as Saint Benedict, was a Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old Catholic Churches. In 1964, Pope Paul VI declared Benedict a patron saint of Europe.

Learn more about Benedict

CommemorationCalendar title

Customs & Fasting

Traditional fast · Complete abstinence

Traditional Lenten Saturday fast and complete abstinence.

Today in Church History

Death of Saint Benedict of Nursia
547Church Father
Saint Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism and author of the Rule of Saint Benedict, died on March 21, 547. His rule became the foundation for monastic life in the West.
Saint Benedict's rule emphasizes balance, prayer, and work, guiding countless souls toward holiness.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Church, as the Body of Christ, thrives through the vital action of the Holy Spirit, who unites all its members in love and purpose. Just as the soul animates the body, the Holy Spirit empowers each believer through sacraments, virtues, and special graces known as charisms, which are essential for the growth and renewal of the Church. These charisms, whether grand or humble, should be embraced with gratitude and discerned within the community, always aligning with charity and the guidance of Church authority. For Catholic families, this means recognizing and nurturing the diverse gifts within their households, fostering a spirit of unity and service that reflects their call to be living members of the Body of Christ.

The Catechism teaches that the Church of Christ is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic—qualities given to her by Christ through the Holy Spirit and essential to her mission. Faith recognizes that these qualities come from God, while the Church’s growth, holiness, fruitfulness, unity, and stability also witness to her divine mission. The Church’s oneness reflects the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and is enriched, not diminished, by the diverse peoples, cultures, gifts, offices, and traditions gathered within the People of God. As we pray and live together, we can remember that the Church’s unity is sustained by charity, the profession of one apostolic faith, the common celebration of worship and the sacraments, and apostolic succession through Holy Orders.

¶ 805

The Church is the Body of Christ. Through the Spirit and his action in the sacraments, above all the Eucharist, Christ, who once was dead and is now risen, establishes the community of believers as his own Body.

Today's Mass Readings

Open the day's Sancta MissaDivinum Officium · Divino Afflatu - 1954View readings